[Cincinatus' Wife]

Florida blacks eye boycott over graduation exam*** "This is a time to celebrate, this is not a time to boycott," Mr. Bush said at a press conference where he emphasized his support of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. "Look at these numbers and look at the results we have achieved and take another action."

Some lawmakers and activists are demanding that Mr. Bush allow nearly 13,000 students, about half of them blacks and Hispanics in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area, to skirt the requirement that they pass the test to graduate this year, and say that the governor is setting the bar too high. ***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

NEA challenged on political outlays - Teacher's union fields "army of campaign workers"***As much as one-third of the tax-exempt National Education Association's yearly $271 million income goes toward politically related activities, according to union documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The documents show that the 2.7 million-member teacher's union spends millions annually to field what one critic calls an "army of campaign workers," while maintaining that it spends nothing on politics.

The NEA has avoided millions of dollars in federal and D.C. income taxes every year for political activities that are not tax-exempt, says the Landmark Legal Foundation, a Herndon-based public-interest group that has asked the IRS to investigate and recoup the money. ***

[anniegetyourgun]

I appreciate Manny & Mo writing this expose. But I'm not sure that anyone with kids in the failed experiment called government schools will really care. They seem bent on making the worst possible choice for their kids while pretending it's all good.

[aruanan]

This guy is why we as a society haven't improved over the 19th century's practice of tarring, feathering, and running such folks out of town on a rail. With the prospect of more of the latter, we'd have less of the former.

[yoe]

Could you provide some pictures of the union members involved, especially Pat and Donna Tornillo, embezzlers have a look about them....

[mewzilla]

Here's a question I've got, sort of related to the credit card angle: Can teachers in FL claim a sales tax exemption for school-related purchases? And do any of them abuse the privilege? Does anyone check?

[Paul C. Jesup]

Unions are designed to enslave the workers to government.

[Guenevere]

Thanks!...wish I could say I'm surprised....unfortunately, I'm not!

This one I'm sending to my sil, a retired teacher-(Florida) who doesn't appreciate President or Governor Bush.

...but thinks the 'teacher's union' is their friend.

[Mr. Bird]

So many questions! Does the membership know that their leader is paid over $40,000 in a stipend for expenses each year? This guy runs a freakin' county, for cryin' out loud. Will Joe Lieberman and the other pols who sought blood with Enron descend on Dade County for this? Did Mr. Tornillo donate to Lieberman's VP run in '00? Sorry, stupid question. How much did Tornillo donate to Lieberman?

[Claire Voyant]

This story makes me SICK! What's with these union THUGS.....are they ALL crooks??? He wasn't even trying to HIDE it!!

TEACHER'S are too stupid to do anything but complain about Bush for their money problems.

[dennisw]

Just you watch, he'll come up with some jive excuse such as he got heavy into drinking thus went temporarily insane on his 6 month spending spree. He was not to blame his uh....addiction to whiskey was.

[Guillermo]

Just another typical left winger in power.

Nothing surprising at all.

[Kuksool]

Good to know the NEA is spending money for the children. / SARCASM

[RGSpincich]

Good. I'm glad the teachers union is forced to supplement the economy in various tourist spots. Better they spend their money in those locations than finance rat candidates. It's the teacher's dues, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

[Southack]

If this guy was a Republican in Texas, the national media would be in a feeding frenzy over this story.

As it stands, however, apparently another corrupt Florida Democrat isn't much news...

[EdReform]

BTTT for later...

[skinkinthegrass]

Clintons=DNC=Liberals=NEA/UTD=Union Thugs=Gangsters=Crooks

[floriduh voter]

My only response is "How long has this been going on?" Further, I bet he's not the only one robbing the union piggy bank. If this turns out to be really damaging, it may hurt the credibility of the TU re: upcoming 2004 elections. Time will tell. Or, teachers will decide it's not worth it to be in the union and drop out.

[floriduh voter]

FEA Meltdown. First McLawyer, now this. LOL Hands in the cookie jar right before a big election cycle. Not good, not good at all.

[HiTech RedNeck]

WELL, you can't expect them to use Motel 6 can you?